OAKLAND, CA – Attorney General of California, Rob Bonta, detailed the shooting death of Reuban Ramos at the hands of a police officer here, but said the CA Dept. of Justice won’t prosecute the officer.
DOJ’s investigation ruled there was not enough evidence to convict the officer who killed Ramos.
AG Bonta added, “The California Department of Justice is firmly committed to working in partnership with all law enforcement agencies to ensure that we uphold a legal system that is not only fair and transparent but also accountable to every resident of California. “
The DOJ statement details that on May 27, 2023, there was a report to a police station of an individual with a gun in a Home Depot Parking lot in Burbank, CA, and it decided Ramos was the subject.
Ramos, the report explained, did not have a gun. But police claimed Ramos pulled out a “black knife” when police confronted him, and officers shot and killed him.
The report noted a second witness interviewed, who was standing 50 feet away from the incident, said Ramos raised and waved his hands above his head with nothing in them before police shot Ramos.
Although the DOJ said California law requires a further investigation of the murder of an unarmed civilian, the DOJ did not find evidence “beyond reasonable doubt” of an officer’s wrongdoing so will not take any further action.
The DOJ said it has suggested that the Burbank Police Department (BPD) both require officers to check weapons used in an important incident as well as increase the hours and resources of the department’s Mental Health Evaluation team.
